The St. Louis Business Journal reported today that the 22-story Union Pacific building downtown has been bought by a Springfield, IL partnership.  It was a few years ago when Union Pacific decided to consolidate their offices to Omaha, Nebraska.  At the time UP announced they would leave St. Louis, the Terra Cotta Lofts were being developed and were being heralded as the largest downtown residential project underway.  Talk was then circulating that the UP building would make a great residential building as well.



The group in Springfield is looking for a St. Louis joint-venture partnership and has already spoken with St. Louis Developers.  They have still not committed to a use for the building, but said it could include retail, residential, office and/or hotel elements.  It had been suggested that the building could be renovated to accommodate around 100 luxury loft condominiums or just fewer than 200 apartments.



The Springfield group has also bought the surface lot on the east side of the UP building, bordering Tucker Blvd, between Pine and Olive Streets.  Before Union Pacific announced they were leaving the building at the end of their lease, the owner of the building was planning a parking garage for that surface lot.  Union Pacific has bought out their lease, which was set to expire in mid-2006, but now will end February 15th, 2005.  The earliest construction would start is early 2006.

Interesting. I hope they either do condos, office, or a mix. We really don't need more hotel space at the moment, and when we do, we can build some new buildings.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. However, they did say "hotel elements"... so I am not sure if they were thinking something along the lines of WS Hotel and Spa or the Chase Hotel where they have extended stay, furnished rooms. My take on it was they wanted to have a way to offer room service, etc... to the condo residents- similar to what the Edison Condominiums has done with the Sheraton. It sounds like they really want to do a mix-used building.

I have been wondering about this building recently, this sounds sweet!!

EXCLUSIVE REPORTS

From the December 10, 2004 print edition



<A HREF="http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... pringfield buyer of Union Pacific building plans $60 million rehab</A>



Heather Cole



After several years on the market, the Union Pacific building downtown has a buyer that plans to give it a $60 million overhaul.



Parkside Tower LLC, a Springfield, Ill., partnership, is buying the 470,000-square-foot building at 210 N. 13th St. in February from Bakewell Corp. While terms were not disclosed, real estate sources put the sale price at about $4 million. About 330,000 square feet of the building is leasable. Parkside also has an option on the adjacent parking lot on Tucker Boulevard.



<A HREF="http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... tory3.html">>>> read more</A>

Looking forward to this one happening



Begs the question, what will happen on the vacant lot east of this building, the east facade of U-Pac is as ugly as the West North and South facades are nice...Hum...New tower on Tucker?

My guess is they will move forward with the parking garage that was planned for that lot previously, especially if they incorporate commercial space and some type of hotel space. I saw the original desgin a few years ago, and it didn't have any retail space from what I could see. If it is a parking garage, lets hope they redesign it with retail or something interesting at street level.

I agree - there will most likely be a garage there.



Tucker really should be one of the grandest streets in the city, but instead, it is extremely bland.



The buildings at 100 and 210 N. Tucker are among the most boring structures downtown. North of 210, there is a parking garage, an old rent-a-car office that is now owned by a graphic design company (cool, doesn't really fit in with the rest of downtown). Across the street, we'll probably have another garage (for the UP Building) and a boring U.S. Bank branch.



The Jefferson Arms is great, but just north of it, the developers of the Lofts at J. Thompson Square were allowed to cut windows into the side of their building and built a parking lot, ensuring that there will never be infill construction at the corner of Tucker and Washington



Once you head north past David Jump's rotting building (that houses Gus's Fashions), you have a Shell Station and a sea of vacant lots across from the Globe-Democrat Building.



Tucker can/should be so much more than it is!

Here is an idea for making Tucker more. It's a huge hastle to cross that huge street. Imagine instead a series of perdiretian bridges at major intersections such as Washington, Olive, Locust, Pine. Now, add to them hanging greens in the summer such as ivy or Virginia creeper. That would make one heck of a beautiful drive down the blvd. BTW, i think this idea with the Virginia creeper should also be looked at down around the Busch to soften up the facade of highway 40. Why Virginia creeper, because it turns Red in October

matguy70 wrote:After several years on the market, the Union Pacific building downtown has a buyer that plans to give it a $60 million overhaul.



Parkside Tower LLC, a Springfield, Ill., partnership, is buying the 470,000-square-foot building at 210 N. 13th St. in February from Bakewell Corp...



Union Pacific recently negotiated a buyout of its lease, which was set to end July 2006 and now will end Feb. 15, 2005...

This purchase has remained reletively quite considering it was supposed to take place in February along with the buyout of Union Pacific's lease. Has anyone heard anymore about this projcet? Is the Union Pacific building empty now?

There is an article in the St. Louis Business Journal (online) regarding this project moving forward! Great news!!!

I hope that the garage is well-designed since it will be facing Tucker. It would be incredible if the developers could build additional units above the garage.



Tucker really needs some life. It could be a grand street, but it's pretty bland right now. That U.S. Bank branch is a total waste of prime land.

EXCLUSIVE REPORTS

From the July 15, 2005 print edition



<A HREF="http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... ">Lawrence Group, Parkside team up for Union Pacific Building</A>

Lisa R. Brown



A new joint-venture partner brings the owners of the Union Pacific building downtown one step closer to beginning an $80 million renovation and new parking garage.



Owner Parkside Tower LLC of Springfield, Ill., picked architectural design firm The Lawrence Group, as co-developer and co-owner, led by president Steve Smith.



[...snip...]



Smith would not disclose his percentage of ownership, but said The Lawrence Group is a "significant member of the ownership entity." His firm will now proceed with conceptual plans, with a target to begin construction next year. The construction schedule will span 18 months, and pre-leasing will begin in spring 2006.



Parkside will build approximately 200 units of "non-loft" style condominiums in the building, which has 375,000 square feet of leasable space. "I believe there is a very broad market for non-loft condominium product in addition to lofts downtown," Jefferis said.



The units will be priced between $175,000 and $750,000, with an average sale price between $250,000 and $350,000. "It's a little higher priced. We think there is a market for it in downtown St. Louis," Smith said.



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DeBaliviere wrote:I hope that the garage is well-designed since it will be facing Tucker. It would be incredible if the developers could build additional units above the garage.



Tucker really needs some life. It could be a grand street, but it's pretty bland right now. That U.S. Bank branch is a total waste of prime land.

Tucker really is bland. I would think with the Lawrence group involved, we could get something that looks really good along Tucker. Especially if they do go ahead with more units on top, because then they would probably try to make the whole structure look like a cohesive building, thus masking that there is even a garage there. The Lawrence Group does really good work, and they don't try to cut corners, so I have faith that this will work out. Hopefully. I can't wait to see some renderings.

I agree, The Lawrence Group seems to always do good work. The old tower portion is beautiful, one of my favorite buildings downtown, with a great parkside location. The Tucker side will be a challenge. Lets hope they do it right. But let's face it, its gonna be a garage, after all.

^

Yep. I would love to see that happen someday, but I don't know how they would configure a lobby for it. Buildings like Met Square have pretty extravagant lobbies, and I don't see how a building on top of either of those garages could match that, even if some of the retailers were booted.

^They could work that out. The lobby of the Marriott Marquis on Times Square New York is several floors up.

I hope the fire for this project is still going; what's the latest?

A demo dumpster appeared on the site a few weeks ago and nearby windows were boarded. Can't say I've noticed much else.

The St. Louis Business Journal reported that The Lawrence Group closed on the purchase of a share in this project last December and is now taking a lead on redevelopment of the building. They also mentioned that office space was recently added to the plans and then expanded due to demand.

This project should help with the affordability part of the market geared toward young professionals.